Birdhouse in Your Soul
by alliedoll
Summary: A slice of life fiction about Faye and Jet mostly. it involves Faye trying to find her place in the world and her place on the bebop. I don't own Bebop or they might be giants, or for that matter John Denver.Final Chapter is now done. Please read and revi
1. Blue Canary

Faye had just finished reading the new issue of Cosmo that had a great article. "Attract his Attention! Change Your Look."

She'd decided that since Julia, Spike's Angel Goddess of the universe was blonde that she herself should dye her hair blonde. If only she could afford some blue contacts to go along with this. Not to mention that most of her lipsticks were bright, and she had always imagined Julia as someone who wore really soft colors that enhanced her already perfect natural beauty.

"Edward, Come help me do something."

"What is it, Faye-Faye?" Ed giggled happily as she leapt into Faye's room. It wasn't often that Faye wanted Ed's help for anything. It wasn't often that Faye even talked to Ed.

"We're going to dye my hair blonde!"

"Dye Dye Dye!"

"Who's dying?" Jet popped his head into the doorway.

"Faye-Faye's hair. Dye Dye Dye!"

"It's a surprise. Get out or you'll ruin it."

Just another of her plans to get Spike to notice her, he thought.

The last one had been interesting. The last one she'd read in Marie Claire was "How to Win his Heart in Three Days".

That one involved asking him to help her with important stuff. There really isn't that much important stuff that Faye Valentine does during an average day. He could open her nail polish bottle if it was stuck or go with her to the races and help her lose all her money. Or maybe if he went out he could pick her up a fashion magazine or some other little thing, but Spike would only do it if she gave him the money up front.

The plan also involved dressing really sexy. Sexier than her usual yellow low-cut halter and short shorts. This involved a short black dress, fishnet thigh-highs, and patent leather spike heel shoes. "Don't get me wrong, she looks really hot, but she's desperate." Jet muttered to himself.

"Desperate!" Ed squealed.

"Spike," Faye said. "Could you help me with this?" It was a bottle of Merlot. "Do you want some?" she said after he popped the cork.

"Nah, I don't like merlot. I prefer Cabernet or Shiraz."

She sat on the couch, lounging sexily with her glass of merlot in her hand. It was a couple of hours later and Faye had drunk half the bottle of wine by herself.

Jet sat in the chair next to her, and she started babbling about everything that she'd done wrong this time.

"It should have been perfect. He opened the bottle. How I know he didn't like Merlot?" She continued drinking the wine and going on and on about her plans.

Spike had left to go out three hours prior to this. He needed his space and possibly; though he hardly ever found anyone that met the rigid standards he held, a quick hook up.

Faye didn't come anywhere close to those standards. She's mean. She's materialistic. She's shallow.

"You're such a good pilot, Spike. Maybe you could show me a few tricks."

What was all that about? She usually berates him for leaving his boxers laying on the bathroom floor or for drinking the last soda even though she'd put her name on it first. Spike shook his head and sipped his whiskey. Faye probably just wants some money. Jet will give it to her. He usually does.

By this time, Faye had drunk most of the bottle of wine. She put her arms around Jet's shoulders and drew him in close to her. He tried to pull away from her, but she held on tighter. She kissed him hard.

"Not like this, Faye."

She wasn't really conscious of where she was or whom she was with. She started to cry. She felt so lonely, so unloved, and so isolated. "Please." She said.

"Faye, no."

She cried harder. He still held her. She felt sick all of a sudden, and ran to the bathroom. He followed her. She threw up three times. He stood behind her, and he held back her hair. She was still crying.

He wiped her face with a towel and led her to her room. She still had her arms around his neck. He tucked her into bed and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sleep well, love." He turned out the light and went back into the living room.

"Faye-Faye, ok?" Ed was hanging from the ceiling."

"Yeah."

"Jet-Jet ok?"

"Yeah, Ed. Time for Bed."

"Ok." She hugged him. "Night-Night."

She went into Faye's room and leaned down over the passed out Faye and kissed her on the cheek.

"Night-Night, Faye-Faye."

Ed watched Faye and Jet talk that night. She knew that Jet loved Faye. Jet Jet loves everyone on Bebop. Faye had kissed him. Did that mean she loved him? No. 'Cause Faye-Faye loves Spike-Spike lunkhead. That's why she drank all what wine and wore that dress.

"Ein, It's just too messy. I love you and that's enough." She snuggled up to the dog and went to sleep.

Jet drank the last of Faye's wine and lay back on the couch. He could have had her completely back here. Well, physically anyway. Emotionally, she had attached herself to Spike, in her own mind anyway. Not to mention, she was completely blitzed. There was no way he could feel good about that. No way at all. No matter how long it had been since he'd had a woman in his bed. How long had it been anyway? Three, four, five years? Who really knew anymore? Too much to delve into, really.


	2. Sunshine on my Shoulders

"Done-Done, Faye-Faye. Hair no longer black like coal. It's yellow like sunshine. Sunshine!"

Faye looked in the mirror. Her hair was bleached platinum. They left the dye on a little too long, so it was almost white.

"It'll do." Faye sighed.

"Faye-Faye looks like snow queen."

The most subtle, sophisticated shade of lipstick she owned was Parisian Pink, a bright hot pink that matched the nail polish she was wearing. She put it on. She still wished she had blue contacts.

"Presenting, Presenting, Presenting, the new illustrious Faye Valentine. Thrills! Yay, Yay! Yay!"

Jet laughed at her. "Doll, you look like a 10 woolong hooker!"

Spike didn't even look up from his magazine.

"Spike-Spike like Faye-Faye's sunshine hooker hair?"

"What did you do Faye?"

"Just needed a change." She said casually.

"Right." Total indifference.

Why did he say 10 woolongs? Maybe 1000 woolongs? Platinum hair just made her look cheap. Her own blackish-purple hair suited her emerald eyes and provided an excellent contrast to her porcelain complexion. Actually he found her rather pretty, and he felt bad because he knew he'd made her cry.

She really wasn't sure why Jet's comments had hurt her so badly. Spike had ignored her completely. At least he hadn't made any derogatory comments. She cried for three hours.

"Faye-Faye's been crying forever! What did you do Jet-Jet?"

" Told her that her hair looked bad."

"Faye-Faye looks like cheap hooker. 10 woolongs. 10 woolongs. "

"Shh! Ed she can still hear."

"Go tell her you're sorry. Tell her it was a joke. Faye-Faye your hair is pretty like sunshine."

"Faye's hair still isn't pretty, Ed. It just doesn't suit her. It was pretty before."

Ed went into Faye's room.

"Jet said he was sorry, Faye-Faye. He thought your hair was pretty before, before 10 woolong whore. Ed will help Faye-Faye."

Ed had a box of black hair dye. Jet must have gone and gotten it as a peace offering.

"Faye Valentine." Ed's voice became like that of a TV announcer. "You've been chosen to be on a new reality show: "What not to do with Faye-Faye's life"!"

Ed cheered wildly sloshing black hair dye as she squealed.

"Ed stop it. Jet's already pissed about the mess we made last time."

"You will give your mind, body, and soul over to Edward the makeover master."

"What are you talking about, Ed?"

"Faye-Faye has bad luck. If Faye-Faye weren't on Bebop, she'd lose all her money in three days. Three days later she'd either be a stripper or a cheap cheap hooker. He thinks that's really really sad, Faye-Faye, but Faye-Faye doesn't know she can do better."

Her eyes lit up. "Spike said that about me."

"No silly! Ed just heard that somewhere!"

He could smell the second round of hair dye. She'd probably end up frying her hair and complaining about the texture. He'd really never felt her hair, so he merely imagined its softness.

"Jet." Spike's voice knocked him out of the intoxicating hair dye induced daydream.

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna go out."

"Ok"

Ed dyed Faye's hair back to black. Then she decided that Faye's wardrobe was all wrong. She went into her own dresser drawers. She pulled out a baggy hot pink t-shirt with glittery butterflies on it. Ed had recently acquired it at a martian thrift store. She then went into Faye's dresser drawers and found a pair of jeans. She washed off Faye's make-up and pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail.

"Faye-Faye. One more thing."

"What?"

"No padded waterbra. Aren't you afraid it will pop and leak all over?"

"Fine Ed, no padded bra."

Faye lost about three cup sizes, and instead of what looked like a D or DD chest, in reality she was about a B. She looked in the mirror.

"Wow, I look so different."

"Faye-Faye, now you must create a life goal. Some way to make sure that you have a way to support yourself if you leave Bebop."

Jet listened to most of this. Why had Ed told Faye what he had said about her not living up to her potential?

Faye emerged from her room in the outfit Edward had chosen. Ed had messed it all up. She'd turned Faye into a Before girl. Jet had been subjected to enough of these shows because of Faye's addiction to them that he knew what a Before girl was. Before girls were just normal. Average, nothing flashy, but at the same time not too ugly or odd looking. Before girls at least had to have the potential to shine.

Emotionally Faye was a before girl, too. Physically she was hot, and she came off as extremely sure of herself. However, it was all a front. Now Ed had matched the outside with the inside. Faye looked as vulnerable and self-conscious as she probably felt.

He thought she looked good, and a lot more approachable.


	3. Good Morning Mary Sunshine

The next couple of days were interesting. Ed and Faye both woke up early in the morning and made their beds. Then they met in the kitchen. Faye's first assignment was to take whatever scraps of food the Bebop's usually empty refrigerator held and transform them into some semblance of breakfast. At least they always had plenty of coffee.

She found two eggs, three pieces of cheese, four packets of oatmeal, and four pieces of bread. So everyone could have half and egg with cheese in it, a bowl of oatmeal and a piece of toast. Hopefully, she could find some butter or perhaps grape or strawberry jam.

Jet smelled the coffee. It brought back pleasant memories of the last time he'd lived with someone. She'd been the type to get up early in the morning and make breakfast before he had to go to work. They would eat breakfast together, and then she would kiss him goodbye. This was the first time since then he'd been woken up by coffee brewing. He was usually the one who made the coffee in the morning.

Spike woke up to the smell of the coffee also. He stared at his watch. 7:20. Jet usually doesn't start the coffee until almost 9. There was giggling in the kitchen.

"Faye-Faye has gotten an A on her first assignment."

"Do I get extra credit if I do the dishes?"

"Yay! Dishes Dishes! Soap Bubbles! Ed will wash if Faye-Faye dries?"

"Ok, After Breakfast."

Faye wasn't really sure why she was doing this, letting Edward tell her what to do. Maybe it was because Spike needed a woman who was capable of taking care of more than just his sexual needs. Really though it had something to do with Jet saying she had potential. No one had ever said that about Faye Valentine, well ever.

Faye-Faye just doesn't realize how good Bebop is. Bebop is a place where people and animals can go and become bounty hunters. Jet likes new people, he tries really hard to help them get what they need. On Bebop everyone gets a second chance. Three essential truths existed in Edward's life right now. 1. Bounty Hunter is a good job, and a real job. 2. Bebop is a good place to live. 3. Having three shipmates constitutes a social life even though they don't always interact with Edward or each other for that matter. Faye-Faye just needs to realize this.

Jet walked into the kitchen. "You two did all this?"

Ed and Faye had set the table and laid out their meager spread of food. They were in the midst of pouring four cups of coffee. "What's the occasion?" Jet asked.

"Faye-Faye did it." Ed beamed.

"Looks good Faye."

She handed Jet a cup of coffee. "Do we have any juice?"

"Nope."

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't leaving anything out."

"Ed will go wake Spike-person up so he can have some of Faye-Faye's glorious breakfast treat." Ed zoomed out of the room making airplane sounds.

"Faye, is something wrong?" Jet asked her.

"No, why?"

"This whole thing with you and Ed, well it's a little weird."

"Nah, it's kind of fun actually. Eat up. Spike'll probably stay in bed, so we'll split his portion up between us."

"Not so fast, Faye." Spike said as he came in.

She smiled. "Good morning. Ed and I made breakfast."

Spike put sugar and cream in the coffee cup that was in front of his plate. "My eggs are cold." He whined.

"They wouldn't have been cold if you'd gotten up when Ed first came to get you." Faye was a little hurt that Spike wasn't more appreciative."

"It was very good, Faye. Do you need help cleaning up?"

"Don't worry about it, Jet. Ed and I have already divided up dish duty. Then I'm headed to the mall. There's some stuff I've got to take care of."

"When will you be back?"

"Probably around five or so."

"Be careful."

"I always am."

Faye was used to the third degree every time she left. She always left her comlink on. The one time that she didn't she never heard the end of it. She'd stayed gone for three or four days that time, and she decided not to call and check in. The way she figured it she was an adult, and it wasn't really like the guys on the Bebop cared what happened to her anyway. Hell, they were probably glad to be rid of her. When she came back to the Bebop, it was a very different story.

"Where have you been?" Jet snapped at her.

"Tracking a bounty."

"You could have called? Did you catch him?"

"No, and since when do I answer to you?"

"Faye," he softened his tone. "You can't just disappear. It's dangerous out there. I'm not trying to control you, but what if something had happened."

Jet seemed legitimately worried for her safety, so she backed down. "I'm sorry. I'll call next time."

"That's all you have to do."

This time, however, the plan was very different. She was going to the mall to find a job. She needed something that would provide a more stable supplement to the scant income they brought in as bounty hunters, something that provided them with a safety net, something that could insure Faye's personal financial freedom if it happened that she separated herself from the Bebop.

She applied at several department stores, but her lack of experience hurt her tremendously. A small lingerie store that she applied at had just had a cashier quit the previous day, and they were having a hard time keeping employees. Since Faye had transportation and open availability, they hired her on the spot. She could start the following morning at 10 AM. Faye couldn't wait to tell everyone on Bebop.


	4. 9 to 5

She'd been working in the mall for about a week now, and honestly the Bebop was too quiet. Jet had to confess that he missed a lot of the chaos that ensued between Faye and Spike when they were both here.

Not to mention that Faye had become extremely polite and helpful around the house lately. She cleaned up after herself and did the dishes almost every night if she wasn't working late. Faye was also the one who made coffee most mornings now. Jet still usually did the cooking, but he no longer did the majority of laundry and other chores. Faye constantly asked if he needed help. Often they worked together on these tasks.

Ed was ecstatic with the changes in Faye's life. "Faye-Faye, let's play a game."

"Ok, Ed, What game?"

"Dance Party."

"Ok, what song this time?"

Ed was obsessed with the radio and pop music right now. She would play the same songs over and over. Then she would leap wildly around the living room. Faye recently had started joining in on this. Ed picked up Ein and danced with him, then she grabbed Faye's hands and they spun in circles.

Jet sat on the couch and looked up from his newspaper periodically to watch what they were doing. Faye seemed a lot younger than her 24 years lately. She seemed more on a level with Ed at this moment. It wasn't that she lacked maturity. Her spirit simply seemed freer right now than Jet had ever seen it before.

Spike came in from his room. "Guys you need to turn it down. Your stereo's conflicting with mine."

"Spike-Spike, come play dance party. You can dance with Faye-Faye." Ed squealed.

"Jet, get them to turn it down."

"Ed turn it down just a little bit. It's bugging Spike." Jet himself had just learned to ignore it. Dance Party made Ed happy, and now it seemed to have a similar effect on Faye. Too bad it couldn't work on Spike.

"Spike-Spike, dance with Faye-Faye."

Faye looked expectantly at Spike who instead flopped into a chair. "Spike, don't you want to dance?"

"Not really."

Faye turned down the stereo and sat down on the floor next to the couch. She leaned against Jet's leg. Jet's hand casually ran through her hair. She didn't stop him. She faced Spike.

"Is everything Ok?" she asked him.

"Yeah, why would something be wrong just 'cause I don't want to play dance party."

"You're just gone a lot lately."

"You've only noticed because you've been home a lot more since you've started working."

That was true. Normally in the evenings, she would spend her time drinking in bars celebrating her wins or mourning her losses from her day's betting. She would come in late, stay up half the night watching movies, and she would sleep until late afternoon. Spike kept a similar schedule, but he spent a lot more of his afternoons tracking bounties than Faye did.

Spike spent most of his nights out as well. Living with three people accorded him no privacy; no one respected his space. Jet always asked him where he was going, when he'd be back, and if he'd managed to pick up any women. Faye was always trying to get him to go out with her, or sometimes just to sit and talk. It's not as if he had anything to talk about with her.

Faye and Ed were spending a lot of time together as well, and Spike found it creepy. After Faye left for work one morning, Spike asked Jet what had changed.

"Don't you think that it's weird that Faye is spending all this time with Ed?"

"She seems really happy. Ed's a lot happier too. Faye's treating her more like a friend than an annoyance."

"What is going on with Faye, anyway?"

"I don't know," Jet confessed, "But I have to admit I like it. Things are a lot easier on me. Not to mention that since we've got a steady income, the food's gotten a lot better. We can actually make stir-fry with meat in it."

"We've been in one spot too long."

"Most of the high-priced bounty-heads come to Mars eventually anyway. Don't worry so much."

Jet was actually a little worried that Faye had finally snapped. The only reason he could think of that she would be saving up money was that she was getting ready to pick up and leave again. Then again, she didn't really seem to be saving. She bought a few groceries, a butterfly coloring book for Ed, two bottles of nail polish, and a magazine about Bonsai trees for Jet with her last paycheck. The magazine was put out by an expert Bonsai gardener who had zillions of creative and exciting ways to arrange Bonsai trees. It also showed readers how to make and buy Bonsai garden accessories. Jet had never instituted any of these ideas into his Bonsai room because he preferred to spend what little money he had on practical things. From time to time, however, he wished that he could put something like that together.

As far as Faye's change in attitude, he merely thought that this was the first time she's seen herself as an adult. Everyone has to go through life figuring out how to take care of him or herself and where they belong. He just hoped she realized she didn't have to do it alone, and that he longed to be there with her.

Not that he harbored any illusions that Faye returned his affections. Even though Spike ignored her, she still had feelings for him. Jet was merely a constant in her life; a source of stability. Jet himself had to admit that he lacked the excitement and charm that Spike possessed. At the same time, he lacked the arrogance, irresponsibility, and recklessness that also plagued Spike. He was also insecure because he knew that he couldn't compete with Spike's good looks. The only advantages that Jet had were the small acts of kindness that he showed Faye day in and day out.


	5. Wish List

Faye and Ed sat on the couch. Faye was filing her nails, and Ed was flipping channels. They stopped on the gardening channel for just a second, and both of their eyes widened.

"That's it." They both squealed simultaneously. The TV showed a miniature garden. Bonsai trees were lined up in a circle. Small bridges connected them, and in the middle was a small area of sand and a fountain. Little paper lanterns hung over the bridges and lit up the garden. The water from the fountain ran under the bridges and little pebble roads connected the trees on the mossy ground area. Playing amongst the mosses were gnomes.

"We have to make that for Jet. He would love it." Faye had been looking for something special that she and Ed could do for Jet's upcoming birthday.

He'd done a good job with Edward's 14th birthday, despite lack of funds. He baked a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. He used purple icing to write "Happy Birthday, Edward" on it. Purple is Ed's favorite color. He bought her a unicorn stuffed animal and a box of rainbow glitter gel pens. Faye got her two pair of socks with glitter butterflies on them. Edward had never had a real birthday party before that.

They'd had more money around the time of Faye's birthday. For her birthday, the crew had gone out for Chinese food. He had also made her a chocolate cake. Her name was written on it in pink icing, not because pink was her favorite color, but because he thought she would look good in pink. Her presents were a small bottle of apple scented perfume and a pale pink sweater. The sweater wasn't really her style, but it was classic looking, so she figured she'd wear it eventually. If nothing else, she needed to wear it once to make him happy. The perfume was one she'd looked at in the mall. The scent reminded her of apple pie, which made her feel like home. Ed had given her glitter lip gloss and a matching nail polish.

She felt kind of guilty accepting the presents. "He's too nice to me," she thought. "All the times that I've stolen money, and threatened not to come back, yet I still get birthday presents."

On Spike's birthday, they didn't have that much money. Still Jet managed to scrounge together a couple of things to make the day special. Spike didn't really like chocolate, so instead his cake was a plain white cake. Jet and Ed decided to get creative with the plain vanilla icing and dye it blue. Then they put rainbow sprinkles on top. 28 candles were also placed on the cake. He never used candles on Ed's cake because he was afraid she might be a pyromaniac. With Faye, it was because he was unsure how old she actually was. It was either 23 or 24, not counting her fifty years in hibernation. He didn't use candles because he figured she'd yell at him if he got it wrong. He thought she was 24, however.

Spike's presents were a bottle of mid-grade whiskey, a pack of cigarettes, and a really neat looking lighter with a dragon on it. The girls went in together on a bottle of cologne because they couldn't stand the cheap stuff that he currently wore.

Faye thought they needed to try as hard as possible to do something spectacular for Jet because of everything he did for them simply out of habit. She knew he sacrificed a lot to take care of them, even though he didn't show it.

Faye began sketching how she wanted the trees set up almost immediately. Jet currently owned seven trees, however, the design Faye wanted to follow called for nine. It also called for seven bridges, nine gnomes, and a fountain in the center. They wouldn't be able to do the gravel and sand in the middle because they didn't want to mess up Jet's Bonsai by transplanting them. They intended to connect the pots with the bridges, and to create a courtyard for the fountain in the middle between the pots. All of this would be set up on a large wooden platform. A little gnome would be placed on the moss next to each tree. So nine gnomes and a fountain had to be purchased along with the two additional trees.

Then there was the matter of the paper lanterns. Ed said they should use christmas lights instead, but finding a power source could prove to be difficult. How could they light miniature paper lanterns to hang over their bridges? Faye's design took her a week to sketch out, in order to get the details for the garden perfect both in her mind and on paper.

Birthdays almost always hold expectations for people, but not for Jet. Other than being thankful for being alive another year, he didn't give it much thought. He made so much effort to make the others' so special because he felt their loneliness and lack of family ties. He enjoyed paying attention to others; it made him happy to know that he was taking care of their emotional needs as best he could. Every other day of the year, they may have felt isolated, but damn it, on their birthdays they were going to feel special. Maybe it was because he'd had so many good birthdays. Of course, before he'd had friends and even family. All that changed when he lost his arm, left ISSP, and began traveling the long lonely road as a bounty hunter. It'd been five years since then, five birthdays alone.


	6. Ordinary Day

Faye-Faye said they should go shopping. They were pretty sure that they could find the gnomes, wood, and paint for bridge building. The major problem they were having was locating Bonsai trees. They only had 20, 000 Woolongs to spend on this project, and each tree was going to cost between 5,000 and 6,000.

The other major problem they were having was the water feature. There were no existing fountains that fit into the small space between the existing trees. All of the fountains they'd found so far were too big and would detract from the beauty of the trees.

"Water, Water, Everywhere." Ed squealed.

"Jet, Ed and I are going shopping for some stuff. We'll be home before dinner."

Faye and Ed Shopping together? That was a first. Of course, they'd been almost inseparable since Faye had started working. Faye was still wearing the sweaters and pants Ed had chosen for her as part of the makeover, instead of the halters and short shorts she wore before. Sometimes, she wore long skirts. Ed bought a skirt at a thrift store that was decorated with horses and cowboys. Faye wore that now with a long sleeved navy sweater.

Jet hadn't really expected her to keep this up. He and Spike had laid bets to see how long it would be before she snapped. Jet figured it would be six weeks and one day. Spike had given her a mere two weeks.

The truth was that Faye seemed happier than Jet had seen her in a long time. She no longer lacked purpose or drive. Her days were no longer empty.

It was Jet who suffered from a degree of boredom now. Spike slept most afternoons, and Ed, while she was entertaining, was difficult to converse with for long periods of time.

"Ed, Want to go see Faye at work?" was the usual question of the day now, as they spent most recent afternoons at the mall. The particular mall that Faye worked in was in an upper-middle class Martian suburb that for some reason attracted high priced bounty-heads.

Before going to see Faye, they stopped at a smoothie stand. Both Ed and Jet ordered strawberry-banana smoothies. Jet intended to give half of his to Faye, so he had it infused with Vitamin Shot, Energy Booster, and Stress reduction. He also had a nutrient bar for her in his pocket. He wanted to make sure she would have the energy to finish her last four hours of work. He was pretty sure she'd been in a rush this morning and had skipped breakfast.

"Faye-Faye. Look what I got." Edward said happily. "Rose colored glasses. Ed gets to look at the world through rose colored glasses. No worries, no cares." She skipped around. "Very good! Faye-Faye want to see?"

Faye put on the sunglasses for a minute or two. Ed was right, the world did seem a lot happier when viewed through pink plastic lenses.

"What time is your break?" Jet asked.

"I could take one now, but I only get twenty minutes."

"I brought this for you." He hands her the smoothie and the nutrient bar. "You need to eat. See you when you get home."

Ed hugged Faye and said "Remember, Remember. Our show comes on tonight. That's right right right."

Ed and Faye had most recently been watching a sappy family show about two happily married parents trying to raise seven children and balance their careers at the same time. The plots were simplistic and wrapped up too neatly at the end for Jet's taste, but the character interaction was entertaining at times. Faye and Ed were obsessed with this, and Jet thought it was because they both secretly craved that sort of stability in their own lives.

Jet and Ed left, and Faye smiled.

"Who was that?" Faye's co-worker asked?

"Just my shipmates."

Faye's co-workers didn't believe that Jet was a mere roommate. She seemed too happy to see him when he showed up in the afternoons. Not to mention he always brought her a drink or some little something to brighten up her day.

Ed and Faye wandered through a plant store that they'd found on the Internet. The trees they had weren't very pretty, but they had nice accessories. It was here that they located their gnomes. They chose one gnome that carried a basket, one that had a guitar, and a third one that had a blue bird perched on top of his hat.

"How many gnomes do we need, Ed?"

"Nine trees equals Nine gnomes."

Finding six more gnomes they liked proved to be a challenge. Ed found a statue of a little dog that she liked.

"Look Faye-Faye, it's Ein!"

It was a little corgi chasing a butterfly. "That looks good, Ed. Now five more."

The next gnome they found was sitting on a log. Another that they chose was lying on his back sleeping. One that held a fishing pole over his shoulder was their next acquisition. Gnome number eight carried a frog in the pocket of his overalls. To top it all off, they found a gnome drinking from a whiskey jug. The Jug read XXX. A whiskey-drinking gnome for the greatest bonsai garden ever created, thought Faye.

They still had to acquire two healthy looking Bonsai trees, however. The next plant nursery they looked at had exactly what they needed.

The plan was to place these two trees in Jet's Bonsai room without suspicion. He was to merely accept without question that he had nine trees instead of seven. Faye hoped he wouldn't notice, though she knew better.

There was only one week left until the party, and Faye still hadn't ironed out the remaining details. Did they want to go out for dinner or make dinner for Jet? She and Ed had decided that they were going to make a cake. Faye decided chocolate would be good. Chocolate with vanilla flavored icing, but not plain white. Ed had decided to dye the icing green.

"Green like bonsai trees. Bonsai, Bonsai, Bonsai, whee!"

The lettering on top of the cake was going to be chocolate icing, because it reminded Faye of tree bark.

The other thing that Faye was having so much trouble with was what to wear. She knew she looked stunning in black or red, but Ed kept suggesting she wear hot pink. Ed showed her a bright hot pink dress with black polka dots on it. It had a halter neckline and came to just above her knee. A black silk rose was pinned at the neckline.

"It's perfect! Faye-Faye, It's Perfect! Pink is so your color!"

In whose world, she thought. She tried it on. It did look good on her, plus it only cost 3000 woolongs. She bought it, because after all he did like to see her in pink.

For herself, Edward chose a lavender sundress. Faye was a little surprised to see Ed make such a choice, but thought it looked really nice on her. Now that they'd chosen their party clothes, it was time to get down to some serious construction.


	7. Party Doll

Faye and Ed had been working on the Bonsai garden for six days now. Hiding their work from Jet had been extremely difficult. Overall, it had come together nicely, except for two details, the water feature and the lighting.

"We still don't have a power source for the lights. How are we going to plug in the lights without knocking over all the trees? Not to mention if he waters the trees with the lights plugged in, won't he electrocute himself?"

"Silly Faye-Faye." Ed squealed. "Jet-Jet won't fry himself with lights. He will unplug them first. The outlet is right next to the table where the trees are. All we have to do is plug it in there."

The water feature was proving itself difficult. Faye had yet to find a fountain that would fit in the circle she and Ed had made between the trees. If too much space existed between the trees they would have to make all of their bridges longer, and right now that would be impossible. Painting blue wooden bridges was already taking its toll on them.

" I want to put it here, Faye-Faye!"

"The bridges have to go between the trees. They can't connect to the middle yet because there is nothing in the middle."

"Fine then." Ed threw the bridge against the wall. Blue paint left a small mark where it had hit. "I just won't play anymore."

"Ed, please. I need your help. Tomorrow night is the party."

"I'm not helping anymore."

Faye threw paint at Ed's face, and Ed squealed back at her. Spike threw open the door at the moment to see Ed and Faye wrestling each other on Faye's bedroom floor. Both of them were covered in blue paint and glitter.

"This garden has to be perfect."

"Stop it, you two. Jet's going to be back tomorrow night, and he will freak if he sees this mess." Spike stopped for a moment and stared in wonderment. "What is that?"

"It's Jet-Jet's bonsai paradise." Ed giggled. She'd completely forgotten about killing Faye at the moment.

"He's really going to like this. How did you get the idea?"

"From a guy on TV." Faye sat up "Can you help us finish it and get it into the Bonsai room and set up?"

They worked on it for the rest of the night.

Ed had gone to bed. Spike and Faye sat in the living room.

"You and Ed really had a good idea there."

"Thanks for helping."

"What else are you doing for the party?"

"Chinese take-out and a cake."

It sounded like it would be a great party.

The next evening after Faye came home from the mall she took extra special care with her hair and make-up. Every piece of everything had to be perfect. Green and brown streamers hung from the living room ceiling. The cake was on the table. The food had been ordered and was on its way. She had two bottles of white wine ready. Ed had her favorite pop C.D. s on hand so everyone could dance.

Faye put on her pink dress, and she'd curled her hair. She pinned back her curls with a black flower that matched the pin on her dress. She curled Ed's hair a little too, and put lip-gloss and blush on her also. They hid behind the couch, and waited for Jet.

"Surprise!" They squealed.

He really was surprised. He hadn't expected all of this trouble for his birthday. Faye and Ed had put together a nice little party.

Faye looked amazing. He knew she'd worn pink because he liked it.

"Happy Birthday." She said. "Come on, we've got to show you your present."

Faye led Jet to the bonsai room. Ed and Spike followed.

Jet stared in amazement for a second. It was just like the picture in the magazine Faye had bought him.

In the middle Ed had placed a statue of a fairy. "It's Faye-Faye". She said happily. She pointed out all the gnomes and told Jet the names she'd given them.

"It's very pretty. How did you know?"

Faye just smiled.

They all went back upstairs to finish the cake. The rest of the evening was filled with laughing and dancing. Faye went to bed that night peacefully content.


	8. Anything But Mine

Disclaimer: I don't own Bebop, but I wish I did. Especially after writing this.

Finally we get the final chapter. Yay!

The place where the Bebop had been docked for the time that Faye had worked at the mall was near a beach. They'd spent many evenings recently walking along the ocean's edge or sitting watching the sunset.

Tonight they all three walked hand in hand, Jet, Ed and Faye. Ed was in the middle. She felt safest there. Ein trotted happily ahead sloshing at the edge of the surf. Ed broke free of Jet and Faye and ran after Ein.

Faye and Jet walked silently side by side for a while. The sun was setting, and a cool breeze came off the water. Faye shivered slightly.

"Here, Doll." Jet took his blue long sleeved shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the sleeves. It smelled like him, soap and cigarettes. She walked closer to him, and he put his arm around her shoulders.

They reached where Ed and Ein both lay in the sand. They sat down, his arm still around her. She lay her head against his shoulder, and he pulled her in closer. Normally by now she would have disconnected, but at this moment she sensed his need for closeness. She didn't feel she could deny him this; right then she would not have denied him anything. He kissed her hair lightly.

They walked back to the ship hand in hand. Ed and Ein skipped on ahead. Ed was singing some song she made up.

Faye and Jet stopped at the door. She started to say something, but he pulled her to him and kissed her, lightly at first, but soon more intensely because he felt her return the kiss.

"I've wanted to kiss you for a long time." He said. She giggled flirtatiously.

He kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He picked her up and carried her into the ship, into his room.

A few minutes later, Spike stuck his head into the doorway.

"Jet, I'm going out." A pair of pink satin panties flew at his face.

"Geez, you guys could at least shut the door." Spike smiled as he shut the door behind him.

Short, but I had nothing left to say. Thanks for all the good reviews guys.


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